Race to honour the dead: As Shiv Sena fights for Bal Thackeray's memorial at Shivaji Park, there are others who are vying for one for their own leaders

There is still a big if on whether Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's memorial will be built, but a political war is building up in Maharashtra over the construction of monuments in honour of leaders.

While the Sena is adamant on not just constructing a memorial for Thackeray but building it at Shivaji Park itself, where he was cremated on November 18, the Maharashtra government is hiding behind a court ruling to deny permission for that.

True to its style, however, the Sena has declared that that building a memorial for Thackeray was an emotional issue for it and not even a court order would stop the Sainiks.

Even as this duel is being played out, Dalit groups in the state have joined the battle and revived their long-standing demand for building a memorial of Dr B.R. Ambdekar. They want Indu Mill in central Mumbai to be reserved for Dr Ambedkar's memorial.

Last week, the Nationalist Congress Party' cell for backward classes jumped on to the bandwagon as its chief Prakash Gajbhiye warned that his party would start an agitation if the state government did not relent.

The NCP cell threatened that it would simply "take over" the mill compound if the state government failed to hand over the land before Ambedkar's death anniversary on December 6.

While the NCP is yet to translate its threat into reality, the Shiv Sena has gone ahead and done it. The makeshift structure erected at Shivaji Park for Thackeray's cremation is now being guarded by a number of Sainiks, who have set up barricades around it.

"Every shakha of the Sena takes the responsibility of guarding the structure for a day. We have planned this out. While one group stands guard, some workers sing bhajans. There has been a constant flow of visitors every day to pay their respects to Balasaheb," a Sena leader said.

Although the Sena has not issued an official statement yet, its top leaders are said to be firm on not allowing the temporary structure to be removed. But they are unwilling to comment after Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray issued a diktat to leaders to stop making statements on the memorial.

But this is just a temporary silence. The indications are clear that the Sena will go all-out, in its own style, to get its demand met.

Fearing unrest, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has cited a Bombay High Court ruling. The HC has declared the park as a silence zone and disallowed any construction there. He also said that the government hadn't received any demand for a memorial at Shivaji Park.

Sources said Chavan was trying to play safe but this has not gone down well with the Sena. Subhash Desai, Sena MLA from Mumbai, said the party had not made any demand yet as it was waiting for the 13-day mourning period to end.

"We, i.e. the Sena and Balasaheb's family, are waiting for the 13-day rituals to be completed. Only after that will we convene a meeting regarding the memorial and take up the matter. When we make a public demand about what we want, everyone will know about it," Desai said in a veiled warning to the government.

War over memorials:

Located: On the banks of the Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad

NTR Ghat, the samadhi of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu film icon N.T. Rama Rao, is a popular tourist attraction in Hyderabad and draws thousands of visitors every day.

Located on the banks of the Hussain Sagar Lake, the NTR Ghat was built on a two-acre land where NTR was cremated.

Designed by famous Bengali architect Nitish Roy, the monument was completed in 1999. The central platform has a grand white canopy reflecting the Telugu culture, with stone carvings around the samadhi.

A beautiful landscape with cascading fountains, flower beds and manicured lawns was developed around the structure.

The memorial is maintained by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority.

There was hardly any controversy over or opposition to his memorial. This is a testimony to the popularity of NTR who formed the first non-Congress government in Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP which he founded, emerged as the only Opposition party to defeat the Congress in Lok Sabha polls even during the sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi's assassination.

Located: On the bank of Dal Lake, Srinagar

Adjacent to the Hazratbal shrine, across the road from the Naseem Bagh campus of Kashmir University, lies the grave of Sher-e-Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah. On its left is another cupola, which marks the grave of his wife, Begam Akbar Jehan.

Chinar leaves strewn over the white marble platform, with the beautiful Dal Lake and the majestic Himalayas in the background, the picturesque setting is belied by gun-wielding policemen posted at the mausoleum.

There are six guards, two head constables and one officer. The police have laid barbed wires all around the graveyard and erected three posts.

Local historians say the guards were posted after 1989, when armed insurgency erupted in Kashmir, as the government feared militants or miscreants could vandalise Sheikh's grave.

"A section of people believe that Sheikh's 1975 accord with the then PM Indira Gandhi was against the aspirations of the Kashmiris," said columnist Z.G. Muhammad.

But National Conference leader and Sheikh's younger son Mustafa Kamal says: "They (critics) say Sheikh Sahab's grave is guarded by securitymen. Mausoleums of all great leaders are guarded. In every society there are mischievous elements," he said.

Located: Marina seafront, Chennai

In the highly fractious Dravidian politics, can a monument to a politician's memory remain untouched by controversy? The memorial of the charismatic M.G. Ramachandran who kept his bÃªte noire and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi out of power for 13 years, is no exception.

The memorial attracts hundreds of admirers and tourists. But there are changes in the structure with every regime change.

It was the Karunanidhi government, which came to power in 1989 after MGR's death, that approved a design for the memorial. When Jayalalithaa became CM in 1991, she made some modifications. Karunanidhi was accused of approving a design which was not befitting MGR's stature.

With his death anniversary nearing, MGR's protege and Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's government is renovating the memorial that will cost the exchequer Rs 3.4 crore.

Located: On the bank of Sabarmati river, Ahmedabad

The ashram that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi set up on the bank of Sabarmati in 1917, two years after returning from South Africa, stands as a living testimony to the Mahatma's experiments with simple living.

Interestingly, the area he selected to set up the ashram fell between a jail and a crematorium the Juna Vadaj area of Ahmedabad. Gandhi apparently maintained that either of the two would be the final destination of any satyagrahi.

The ashram housed Gandhi from 1917 to 1930. He also launched his Dandi March from this ashram.

According to ashram authorities, the campus witnesses an average footfall of over a thousand people every day. It currently houses a museum and does not provide lodging facility for the Gandhi enthusiasts who flock there from all over the globe.